Crispy brussels sprouts - who knew? I first had them New Year's Eve, when we dined at Manresa, a 2 stared Michelin restaurant, on opening night for Manresa after a dreadful fire in July 2014. The crispy brussels sprouts was served on top of a porcini mushroom dish. I really liked the texture and taste. So when I browsed for ideas for a garlic soup and stumbled upon this recipe for garlic-potato soup at the blog How sweet it is with crispy brussels sprouts on top, I knew I had to try it.

Directions:

Heat oil and butter in a large pot. Cook onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and enough stock to cover them - I used 5 cups (1.25 liter). Bring it to a simmer, put a lid on and cook until the potatoes are tender and starts to fall apart, about 20 minutes.

Crispy brussels sprouts:

Remove the outer leaves from the brussels sprouts, carefully clean and dry them, set aside.

Heat vegetable oil to 325-350 ℉ (165-180℃) in a pot. (use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature.) Add the brussels sprouts leaves a few at a time and fry until crispy, about 1-2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Transfer the soup to a blender,* work in batches. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into the blender. Puree the soup until totally creamy and smooth. Return the soup to the pot and gently heat it with the cream. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup in bowls with the crispy brussels spouts on top and sprinkled with red chili flakes.

Enjoy!

*Be careful when blending hot liquids, it can make the lid pop off, and you may risk getting serious burns on you skin. You can remove the small cap on you blender lid and cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel. You need to hold on to the lid and towel. This will let the steam from the hot soup escape and avoid the lid from popping off. You can also get blenders like the Vitamix, where you can blend hot liquids, without any hassle.